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Michael Hollingworth

Professor Lisa Orta

English 123

6 March 2017

Femiline

In Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine uses masculine and feminine stereotypes as one way to

characterize his protagonists. Though it may not seem apparent in the quiet demeanor of this

story, Tomine has a lot to say in this book relating to feminism and feminist theory. One of the

common spaces in said theory argues that though biology determines sex (most of the time), at

the end of the day, culture has the final say on gender. Shortcomings has many poignant scenes

which look at this issue, and with some analysis, it will be shown that this issue of biology versus

culture does not necessarily pose as big a problem as it may seem.

In the scene from the last panel on page 17 to the last panel on page 18, Ben and Miko

have dinner together at home. Miko cooks and talks about the details of the film festival, while

Ben stands around not seeming particularly engaged. When Miko then asks him about his day,

he rattles on about Alice's promiscuity forcing Miko to stop him. At the end of the scene we see

a brief discussion about whether Ben got any packages which leads to the revelation that he's

quite the movie buff, and it acts as a transition into the next scene (18). The scene portrays a

classic cliche of femininity and masculinity with Miko as the housewife preparing dinner, and

Ben as the useless male partner just lounging around and not doing anything of note. There is

also a distinct difference in their conversations. While Miko talks very civilly about her work and

how it is progressing, Ben speaks bluntly about his opinion on Alice's behavior and goes on to

talk about his own experience with his high school teacher, which Miko does not want to hear
about. This again portrays another stereotype in which women are more refined than men in

conversation. In this scene, which takes place in Ben and Mikos apartment, Tomine shows the

reader a snapshot of the protagonists life together, and by using stereotypical gender roles, he

presents Ben and Miko as traditionally masculine and feminine.

In scene two of chapter two, beginning at the bottom of page 44, we see that Alice and

Ben again having a meal together, presumably lunch. They eat at a different restaurant, which

Alice explains is due to the waitress she had taken to bed becoming too attached. They proceed

to talk about Bens love life, and Ben now reveals that he's not as distraught about Miko leaving

as it seemed initially. On the contrary, he openly admits that he will participate in infidelity.

Alice does not seem surprised and instead questions him curiously about what he has done.

When she finds out he has not done anything yet, she eggs him on. Tomine throws the reader a

curveball with Alice playing the role of Bens best friend, because that would typically be a guy,

and as it is, Ben treats her like a guy, and she certainly acts like it. They have locker room talk

about their own love lives and what they have done. They very freely joke about sexual things, at

least Alice does, which men would typically do, not women. And Alice knows quite a lot about

Bens hesitancy in approaching women sexually, and of course, like the good friend tells him

that he must man up or he will never get some. Once again, Tomine takes advantage of

cultural norms to not only portray Alice as a manly character, but as the more dominant male

character.

Scene seven of chapter three on page 91 takes place in a bar called O'Daly's where

Meridth, Alice, and Ben get some drinks together just after they have discovered Mikos secret.

Now that Ben has had the tables flipped on him, he feels upset about it for reasons similar to

those that upset Miko before. Meridith turns out to be the sensible one, trying to show him that
he should not look too deeply into it. The scene ends with Meridith's suggestion that maybe

Miko and this guy simply both love each other. In this scene one of the most common double

standards comes into play. Ben did not have any issues with his attraction to white girls and he

even tried a few while Miko was away, but when he saw that Miko had essentially done the

same thing, albeit with a lot more success, he gets upset and vents his emotions on the racial

difference between them. This is quite the different tune from before when he was assuring Miko

that his apparent obsession with white women was just a fantasy. In many cultures, the idea that

men can have multiple partners while women cannot has persisted. This scene demonstrates that

double-standard as Ben clearly has that misconception. Another interesting thing of note is that

Alice does not chime in with Meridith, or call him out on his two-timing, which she was aware

of. Possibly she did this because she knows that he is going through a rough time, but it is also

possible that with her own lack of attachment, she does not understand fully why Ben feels so

strongly about Miko.

Returning to chapter one, scene seven on page 24 shows Alice taking Ben to church. She

reveals that this guise is designed to stop her parents from hounding her about her lesbian

activity, and Ben plays along. When they arrive at the church, Alice introduces Ben to her

parents, and they have an extended conversation in Korean before heading inside. After a brief

snapshot of the service, the scene ends. From the second frame of this scene, gender roles come

into play. Alice drives the car, not Ben. This puts on its head a relatively common stereotype of

the man driving the woman around. That idea is not as predominant as it used to be, but it is still

noticeable when a woman drives instead of a man. In this scene also, the reader sees Alice in

traditionally feminine clothes for the first time. She does not seem very comfortable in them at

all, which points directly back to cultural gender and biological gender. While biologically, Alice
is a woman, culturally, she does not dress the way most women dress, and feels more

comfortable dressing otherwise. In most crowds this would not pose a problem, but with the

hyper-traditional parents that Alice has, she feels pressured to the point where she organized a

masquerade with her best friend to appease them. Of course, this scene also speaks volumes

about race and sexuality, but what it says about culturally-defined gender roles cannot be

ignored.

Shortcomings clearly demonstrates how disparate culture and biology can be. However,

examining the bigger picture, feminism promotes equality between genders. While women

clearly run up against the sharp end of the stick in terms of culture defining their lives, men also

received their fair share of culturally-defined roles. In the book, Ben did not feel like a very

powerful man. He seemed effeminate and weak because he did not measure up to the

stereotypical qualities of masculinity. So if equality is already present between genders in this

aspect, feminism does not have much more to perform. Of course, the primary question then

becomes whether these stereotypes must be battled or enforced. I argue that neither take place.

As a conglomerate mass, humankind creates and tears down stereotypes. For those who wish to

live by them, they can do so in comfort, as they have a standard. And for those who dislike the

stereotypes, they can live without their bondage. As long as nether group persecutes the other,

cultural stereotypes are harmless and can be ignored. Femininity, masculinity, none of it truly

defines a person. Only their heart can do that.


Works Cited

Tomine, Adrian. Shortcomings. Montreal, Drawn & Quarterly, 2015.

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